You may already be aware of this, Coppertop, but just in case, keep in mind that Ruh's book has a certain amount of sad stuff in it. She didn't have an easy time of it earlier on, apparently--another reason I'm glad to hear that her current life, including kids, is so happy. I'd suggest reading a review of it on Amazon or somewhere before searching it out.

Someone else (maybe it was you) said much the same, esp about her mother.

When the book came out, there was enough discussion on a GS thread somewhere to make me very sad for Lucinda. I deliberately didn't read the book, though I'm glad she was able to write it because it clearly gave her some sort of solace to get things out in the open. I know it made me want to hug my own mother out of gratitude.

But we fans got to experience the best part of Lucinda's life. Her skating was truly poetry in motion, and she proved the point that a skater doesn't need awesome jumps to be either innovative or memorable. Thank goodness she peaked at a time when there was a viable pro circuit, so she could have an opportunity to use the parts of skating she was good at and leave out the jumps. Though even in her competitive career, she drew eyes to her. Here's her 1999 world long program, to a ravishing piece of music, Reinhold Gliere's Harp Concerto, to which she does complete justice:

Even disregarding her spins (as if we could!), look at how she flows from position to position and uses her whole body to express the mood. People, this is how to skate to music.

Notice also how enthusiastic Dick Button and Peggy Fleming are about her. This is their commentary at its best, not just boosting an American skater but praising someone unusual and pointing out important details in that skater's work.